Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Sells 105,000 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP lowered its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 46.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 105,000 shares during the quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s holdings in Vale were worth $1,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Vale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in Vale during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Vale during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vale in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $10.61 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $10.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.96. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $9.66 and a 1-year high of $16.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.97 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be given a $0.3698 dividend. This represents a yield of 12.1%. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VALE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.72.

Vale Profile

Vale SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Iron Solutions and Energy Transition Materials segments. The Iron Solutions segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, and other ferrous products; and provides related logistic services.